When starting a business venture, we often ask ourselves how to we benefit from it? How do our prospective customers benefit from it? So in this case, the same thing applies for worm farming. What are the advantages of worm farming?
Worm farming or vermicultivating is a way of producing healthy, organic compost goof for the soil and any kind of gardening. With this kind of business, you do not need a big amount to start and operate it. There are numerous worm farm stores where you can get your basic supplies. Worms reproduce quickly, so if you have 2000 worm in the beginning of your business, it would reach as much as 8000 after 6 months.
Aside from small overhead expenses needed, consumers also get to use organic soil for their plants and gardens. While, fishermen can also get their bait from you. Worms cam also be used as pet food. There are numerous advantages of organic farming.
With organic farming consumers:
• Get better nutritional value from the food they eat. Organic food has more vitamins and minerals compared to fruits and vegetables grown using chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Organic fruits and vegetables are free from chemical contamination specially from those with harmful effects like pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
• Have lower risk factors of diseases associated to chemical exposure.
• Eat better tasting food. Organically grown food tastes much better than those which are conventionally grown. The taste of fruits and vegetables are related to its sugar content, and the sugar content can be derived from the kind of nutrition the plant gets.
• Store food longer. Organic fruits and vegetables have higher cellular structure compared to those plants grown with current methods. Thus, organically grown fruits and vegetables can be stored longer and less vulnerable to rotting.
For those who plant fruits and vegetables, organic farming is a better option since:
• Plants raised in organic soil is more resistant to diseases and pests.
• Using it is less expensive than agriculture chemicals.
• Plants organically grown are more resistant to drought.
• There are a part of the market who are willing to pay premium prices for organically grown fruits and vegetables.
Aside from these consumer and grower benefits, organic farming is also environmentally friendly. Worm farms use most of your kitchen wastes. Worm farming and other kinds of organic farming produce lower greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, these kind of farming methods are climate friendly.
The use of soluble fertilizers has different detrimental effects to our ecology. Once fertilizer is poured to the crops, much of the fertilizer are washed off the soil and gets into the water. Most of the times, it would seep into groundwater making it contaminated and unfitted for human consumption.
For fresh bodies of water, evidences of contamination are showing with the abundance and overgrowth of algae. Algae interferes with the system of coral reefs and sea plants. It blocks the sunlight, causing the sea plants and corals to die.
How does this affect us? In a lake in Florida, USA where a major pesticide spill happened, researchers and wildlife specialists discovered alligators with distorted sex organ development and function. There are also studies that showed the link of reproductive problems like reduced sperm count and breast cancer to chemical farming.
Worm farming and other forms of organic farming have numerous benefits. It just like you have the both of best worlds, you get to help environmentally and you get to earn.
When you are doing worm farming, it does not mean that you can leave you worms unattended. There are worm predators which can pounce on your worms and eat everything. Why keep your worms for profit if you just let predators take them away.
You have to make sure that you worm farm is safe for your worms. Who are the predators and what should you do?
• Make sure that you worm farm has proper drainage. Make sure that you are not using contaminated water. Also avoid using paper which had contact with pesticides since this is also source of contamination.
• Make sure that your worms are safe from predators like birds, moles, hedgehogs, foxes, toads, snakes, beetles, leeches, slugs, and parasites. All of these feed on worms.
• Even if there are predators in the area which are not interested in eating the worms but are eating the worm’s food. Then you should also be careful. If worms are not fed enough, they try to leave the worm beds.
• If you are feeding birds in your area, then it would be ok. Just make sure to feed them in a different section, you definitely do not want them to eat your profit.
• If you are living in a populated area, you would have to have a different kind of worm protection. There could be thieves that are looking for free fishing bait. So make sure that your worm farms are duly protected.
To protect your worm farm, you can have shed that can be locked to make sure that unwanted people and presence are kept out. Make sure that the floor is kept clean. If you have concrete flooring, you can hose it down to remove the dirt and leftover scraps. Some worm farm owners have a technique of keeping their farm safe from predators. They would put their worm bin on a stand with legs, then they would put it a container where there is water surrounding it.
Aside from being cautious in providing safety measures in the worm farm’s surroundings, you also need to be cautious of the food you provide to your worms. Some worm farmers aside from giving ready to eat food, also give food treated with chemicals. These medications and chemicals should be handled with care since these substances could be harmful.
Although worms eat meat, or eat anything that is offered to them, it is for the best altogether to remove meat among the things that farmers offer. With meat, there is a higher possibility that pets will be attracted to and eventually will be bad for the worms. Flies and maggots can also be attracted to the worm farm if meat is offered to the worms.
Aside from these foods, we should also avoid offering citrus fruit, onions, and garlic. Its strong smell drives the worm away. Another kind of food that needs to be avoided are dairy products, aside from attracting also predators, they also emit foul odors as they rot.
Taking care of worms are easy job, as long as you take note of what you should and should not do. Worm farming can be both financially profitable and enjoyable. There are even studies saying that worm farming relieves stress. So, happy farming!
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